Dumpling Wrappers

Dumplings are the most symbolized Chinese food for Chinese New Year. We have ample access to machine made store-bought dumpling wrappers. But making your own dumpling wrappers at home is a quite rewarding family activities during the holiday. So I make this separate post to introduce every details about how to make perfect dumpling wrappers at home.

From a bottle of home fermented doubanjiang from broad beans to a small batch of red oil wonton using my handmade wonton wrappers and a plate of beef chow mein with my own egg noodles , I always love to make things from scratch. Access to store bought wrappers make the process of serving yourself a plate of dumplings much quicker and easier. When time is sufficient, you should never miss the process of making your own wrappers from scratch. The handmade dumpling wrappers have a thicker center and thiner edges, which is so much better than store-bought version. With a stand mixer, making the dough has been extremely simple and free of effort.

Ingredients for a basic Dumpling wrapper dough

Steps to make homemade dumpling wrappers

In a stand mixer, mix salt with flour and then add water. Then use hook to knead for 6-8 minutes until smooth.

Shape to a round ball, covered and set aside to rest for 15 minutes. Then re-knead the dough for 2-3 minutes until hardened again. Continue resting for 1 hour or longer time. Longer resting time makes the dough softer and easy to handle but the wrappers will be less elastic.

Shape it into a large circle. Cut the circle in halves and shape each half into a long log around 3cm in diameter.

Then divide the long log into small dumpling dough pieces (each around 10g).

Dust each of them so they will not stick together.

Before rolling out your dumpling wrappers, dust your working surface again. Take one piece of dough and press it to a round disc. Hold the wrapper with your left hand and hold the rolling pin with right hand. Rotate the wrapper when moving your rolling pin. Repeat the process, rotate the wrapper-roll and rotate the wrapper-roll. The wrappers will have thicker center and thinner edges naturally. The wrapper should be around 8cm to 10cm in diameter. I have made a video previously where you can see the process.

This process might be quite difficult at the very beginning. Just keep trying. You will end up with perfect homemade dumpling wrappers. Do a small batch (3-5 wrappers for beginners) and wrap them firstly, (you can check how to fold dumplings if need more help.) otherwise the wrapper dries out quickly. The best working process is to get assistant to help assembling the dumplings.

Note 1: why some recipe calls for hot water.

We usually use cold water to make dumpling wrappers for water boiled dumplings. If you want to make steamed dumplings or pot stickers, you can use just boiled hot water.

How to keep the wrappers: should I fridge or freeze them

If you have leftover dumpling wrappers, slightly dust each of them and then freeze in air-tight bag. Next time before using, rest for around 30 minutes to 1 hour in room temperature until soften back.

210mlto 220ml water ,room temperature or just boiled hot water (note1)

1/2tsp.salt ,2g

Instructions

Mix a small pinch of salt with flour, dig a hole in center and then stir the water in. Mix the flour with water with chop-stickers during the process so you can adjust the water amount if necessary. Then knead the dough for 8-10 minutes with a stand mixer or by hand until the dough is almost smooth. Cover and rest for 15 minutes. Then re-knead the dough for 2-3 minutes so we can get a very smooth dough. Cover and continue resting for 1 hour.

Dig a small hole in the center of the ball. Shape it to a large circle round. Cut so we will end up a long log.

Shape the log around 3cm in diameter. Divide the long log into small dumpling dough pieces (each around 10g). Dust each of them so they will not stick together.

Before rolling out your dumpling wrappers, dust your working surface again. Take one piece of dough and press it to a round disc. Rotate the wrapper when moving your rolling pin. Repeat the process, rotate the wrapper-roll and rotate the wrapper-roll. The wrappers will have thicker center and thinner edges naturally. You can refer to this video for the process.

This process might be quite difficult at the very beginning. Just keep trying. You will end up with perfect homemade dumpling wrappers.

Recipe Notes

Note1: We usually use cold water to make dumpling wrappers for water boiled dumplings. If you want to make steamed dumplings or pot stickers, you can use just boiled hot water.Note2: If you have extra dumpling wrappers, slightly dust each of them and freeze in air-tight bag. Next time before assembling, rest for around 30 minutes to 1 hour in room temperature until soften back.

I’m often left with extra wrappers and try to freeze them. But even if I dust with flour, they stick together and it seems like part of it is just from the weight of all the wrappers on top of each other (even if there’s not that many). Do you have any tips? Is it maybe that the mixture wasn’t made properly or with the right proportions? Or maybe my wrappers are too thin or too thick?

It seems excessive to lay a parchment paper between each layer. Thanks!

Natalie,
The wrappers will be softened very quickly after rolling because of the resting of the gluten. If you want to freeze them, parchment paper or plastic wrapper can be a good choice. I do not have other tips for this problem. Usually I cook the extra wrappers, if homemade as noodles. But store bought wrappers can be frozen well.

I’m going to try making these with a high gluten (bread) flour tonight with beef filling (my girlfriend doesn’t like pork unfortunately).

This dough is similar to noodle dough right? Whenever I tried to make hand pulled noodles in the past, the dough was too hard to stretch and fell apart while pulling. When I watch people on youtube pull noodles, the dough almost looks liquid and very smooth. Is that just a water to flour ratio problem? Do I need to knead more? Increasing the resting time didn’t seem to have an effect. My ball of dough comes out smooth, but when I pull it it gets very dimple-y.

I made this recipe and it was fantastic. I had a tough time rolling out my dumplings but then I watched the video and it got a bit better. I had to use a round mug to have the right shape for my wrapper. It was my first time, so I’m sure I’ll get better with time. I love that you include instructions for the stand mixer, with my mixer the dough was smooth and easy to shape. This recipe is awesome!

Chinese Pantry

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